Highway marker with replaceable cover



June 28, 1960 E. E. WHITE HIGHWAY MARKER WITH REPLACEABLE COVER Filed April 7, 1959 FIG.2

v INVENTOR.

' EARL E. WHITE y BqCKHORNpHEAT-HAM a BLORE ATTORNEY;

United States Patent HIGHWAY MARKER WITH REPLACEABLE COVER Earl E. White, Goldendale, Wash. Filed Apr. 7, 1959, Ser. No. 804,610

3 Claims. (Cl. 116-63) The present invention relates to highway traffic marl ers and more particularly to a highway traffic marker having a replaceable cover.

A very popular type of temporary highway marker is the conical type having a relatively wide base so that it may rest securely on the ground. Such markers are generally painted a bright yellow and lettered with the word slow or other warning to motorists. Used generally in construction zones and other places where traffic is diverted'into narrow lanes, they are frequently struck by passing vehicles and this and the frequent handling in positioning the cones tends to dirty or mark the surface of the cones so that they become less visible. Also, the painted surface of such cones weathers in time and loses its brilliance as a warning sign. Heretofore, it has been the practice to repaint a cone that has become damaged or its paint lost its brilliance. However, such painting is expensive not only from the actual labor involved,but also because it requires that cones be taken out of service requiring an extra supply of cones to be maintained so as to have a suflicient number available for use.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a replacea-ble covering for safety cones. More particularly, it is an object to provide an inexpensive, replaceable cover for conical highway markers.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent hereinafter.

In accordance with the illustrated embodiment, the present invention comprises a conical highway marker having a frusto-conical removable covering which can be slipped easily over the narrow end of the marker to mount or remove the covering as desired. The covering can simply and easily be replaced whenever it becomes dirty or it is desired to mount coverings of particular markings upon the marker. 7

For a more detailed description of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings and following detailed description thereof.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a highway marker of the invention; 7

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the covering removed from the marker; and

Fig. 3 is a plan view showing how a sheet may be cut preparatory to forming a frusto-conical configuration desired for the coven'n a As shown in the drawings, a highway marker device of the invention comprises a conically shaped, thin walled body designated generally by the numeral 10 mounted upon a relative wide base member 12. The body 10 and the base 12 may be made of any suitable material but may be conveniently formed of molded rubber or other resilient material so that the market will resist damage if struck by passing vehicles or other objects.

In accordance with the invention, the body 10 is provided with a replaceable covering in the form of a frustoconical sleeve 14 which is dimensioned so that it seats snugly upon the body '10 intermediate the top thereof so that its diameter at the top is greater than the diameter at the top of the body It; and with the diameter at the bottom of the sleeve being less than the diameter of the body 10 adjacent the base 12. The sleeve 14 may be of any suitable material, such as paper, parchment, plastic coated paper, or plastic per se. The main requisite is that the covering material be resistant to weathering but inexpensive so that it can be replaced easily. The covering should also be of a material which can be printed or otherwise inexpensively colored with the conventional yellow warning color or other color as desired.

Conveniently, the covering '14 may be formed of sheet material and referring to Fig. 3, a covering may be precut in the shape of the sheet 16 therein shown with opposite edge portions 18 and 20 which may overlap when the sheet is wrapped about the body 10. The portions 18 and 20 may be coated with a-contact adhesive so that the coverings may be supplied in fiat. sheets and wrapped any way, thus decreasing the hazard that might exist by a dirty safety marker, that could not beeasilyvobserved.

The use of replaceable coverings will minimize the repainting of the cones and make it possible for such repainting to be deferred until periods'when employees are free of other duties.

Having illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of the invention, itshould be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention permits of modification in arrangement and detail. I claim as my invention all such modifications as come within the true spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim: a

l. A traffic marker comprising a conically tapered body of predetermined height and having a small top and a wide base'and a replaceable covering therefor comprising a frusto-conical sleeve having a height less thanthat of said body and snugly seated upon said bodyv intermediate of said top and said base. i 2. A traflic marker comprising a conically tapered body of predetermined height having a small top and a wide base and a removable cover on said body comprising a frusto-conical sleeve having the same degree of taper as said body, the diameter of the wide end of said sleeve being less than that of said body base and the diameter of the narrow end of said sleeve being greater than that of said body top so that said sleeve seats snugly upon said body medially of said body.

' 3. A removable cover for a traffic marker comprising .a conically tapered body of predetermined height having a small top and a wide base, said cover comprising a' frusto-conical sleeve of paper or like sheet material having the same degree of taper as said body, the diameter of the wide end of said sleeve being less than that of said body base and the diameter of the narrow end of said sleeve being greaterthan that of said body top so that said sleeve may be seated snugly upon said body medially of said body.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,942,571? Patented June 28, 1960 Scanlon Nov. 2; 1943- 2,646,638 Peterson a July 28, 1953 a 

